Insight

In the 21st century, access to connectivity is not a luxury, it’s a basic essential service. However, to be a world-class digital economy we need more than the basics; we need digital infrastructure that provides higher speeds, greater resilience and better quality, right across the UK.

Demands on our digital infrastructure are rapidly increasing as future technologies, such as multimodal AI and cloud gaming, require ever greater data capacity. The market must be able to adapt to support the needs of today’s digital economy, while also ensuring there is a platform in place to help meet future demands. To achieve this we need investment in digital infrastructure that is resilient and able to scale as requirements inevitably evolve and increase, including in the North of England – where cities are becoming increasingly dynamic and communities demand high-quality broadband connections.

nexfibre is on a mission to deliver its network to 5 million premises by 2026. We have just passed 1 million premises faster than any other altnet provider and are set to deliver our network to more premises than any other provider this year, apart from Openreach. This, in partnership with our build partner Virgin Media O2, will make us the UK’s second largest alternative network provider in only our second year of operation and demonstrates that our rollout is helping to transform the market by boosting choice, service quality, and injecting much needed competition.

Our network is fit for the future

nexfibre is the only provider of its scale to be building its network exclusively using XGS-PON technology, capable of symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 10 Gbps. We have taken the decision to invest in next generation technology to future-proof our network, because there is no room for complacency when building a fibre network. This cutting-edge fibre technology is able to be continuously upgraded to accommodate the UK’s future data needs, eliminating the need to rebuild our network once demand surpasses our infrastructure’s capability.

Commitment to quality and resilience

As a wholesale-only provider, we are able to focus on ensuring the quality and resilience of our network is not compromised as we scale at pace. We take great pride in our build quality and our in-house audit team carry out rigorous testing and visit every build to ensure our service quality is of the highest standards.

Besides ensuring a high-quality infrastructure build, we are committed to providing a superb service to our network users. We are dedicated to continuously enhancing our capabilities that bolster our resilience, allowing us to swiftly identify and address even minor service disruptions — a critical area where operators have often struggled historically. We also understand the importance of seamless integration for ISPs. That’s why we are developing our own Application Programming Interface, which will further streamline our integration process and enable even more ISPs to make the most of our network.

Empowering northern communities

We are delivering our high-quality, resilient network to communities across the North of England that have previously been underserved. By boosting access to fast broadband, including through onboarding high-quality, growth focused ISPs onto our network, we are enabling these local communities to access the tools they need to participate and thrive in a modern, digital society and stoking growth in the local economy.

nexfibre is a platform for progress, bringing greater levels of choice, quality, and innovation to the market and using our technology to deliver better outcomes. Since starting operations we have already made exceptional progress. In 2024 we are excited to continue strengthening our technological capabilities while also accelerating our delivery of essential digital infrastructure, in fact around 60% of our activity will be in  communities in the North.

For all these reasons and others, we are proud of the work that we are doing at nexfibre and are excited about taking our network construction to the next milestone.  As we continue to build a national scale platform, we want to continue to set a new benchmark for quality and service for all our customers that will enable them to take full advantage of the benefits of the latest digital technology.

Network operator CityFibre has revealed that their £50m project to deploy a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network across the West Midland’s city of Wolverhampton, which began all the way back in July 2020 (here), has now covered over 90,000 premises (homes and businesses).

The announcement states that the operator has “completed its rollout across several areas of the city“, where homes and businesses have been designated ‘Ready For Service’, although it seems to shy aware from mentioning which areas will be the next to benefit and by when. In fairness, they have now covered most of the city, albeit missing out the most central area inside the ring road and a large area to the south of that.

The work supports the operator’s wider ambition of covering up to 8 million UK premises (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and c.£800m of BDUK subsidy) – or around 30% of the UK – by the end of 2025 (here). CityFibre’s network currently covers 3.5 million UK premises (3.2m Ready for Service) and they’re aiming to grow their network coverage by another 1 million premises in 2024, albeit via a mix of new build fibre and acquisitions (M&A activity alone could theoretically add up to 1.5-3 million extra premises).

Bashir Ahmed, CityFibre’s Partnership Manager for Wolverhampton, said:

“We’re thrilled to have over 90,000 premises in Wolverhampton Ready For Service, offering people across the city all the benefits of full fibre connectivity. We would also like to thank residents for their patience as we have rolled out this essential digital infrastructure and we hope to see more people in the area unlock seamless homeworking, streaming and gaming. Our investment in Wolverhampton’s digital foundations is set to benefit the local community for years to come.”

CityFibre’s main gigabit-capable competitors in the city are Openreach and Virgin Media (VMO2), although some smaller networks like Grain and Hyperoptic have also deployed their full fibre infrastructure into a few specific areas.

Internet provider Cuckoo has today announced the appointment of Sarah Howells as Managing Director (MD) of the business. The newly created role will oversee all of the ISP’s customer-facing activities across Sales, Customer Service, User Experience, Digital, Brand, Marketing and Product.

Sarah was previously the Chief Customer Officer (CCO) of Jurassic Fibre, until 2023, where she is said to have helped to triple the customer base within nine months. She’s also had a distinguished career in customer service, having worked in the field for nearly 30 years and holding senior positions at NTL, Vodafone New Zealand and 2degrees Mobile etc.

Cuckoo is currently deep into the process of becoming the main retail broadband ISP outlet for Fern Trading’s (Octopus Investments) consolidated UK full fibre networks (Jurassic Fibre, Swish Fibre, Giganet and AllPoints Fibre).

Paul Hellings, CEO of Cuckoo, said:

“Sarah is one of the UK’s leading figures in broadband – she’s customer obsessed and her knowledge and passion for the customer experience is something rarely seen in the sector.

With Sarah as Managing Director, and her three decades of expertise, I’m confident we can accelerate customer growth and provide unrivalled customer service at the lowest cost to serve.”

News 

The trial is set to begin later this year 

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Metrology Institute, has partnered with Measurement Standards Laboratory (MSL) in New Zealand to carry out earthquake detection tests through subsea cables in the Pacific Ocean.  

The duo will carry out the tests in a 3,876km-long section of the Southern Cross NEXT cable (a subsea cable that connects Aukland, Sydney and Los Angeles), that sits on the floor of the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. The area has been chosen as it is highly seismically active –meaning it is vulnerable to earthquakes– which the NPL say is “an ideal test bed for advancing the technology and demonstrating its full potential.” 

As part of the trial, scientists will turn the cable section into various sensors for earthquakes and ocean currents, by performing ultra-sensitive optical measurements. It will not need any new hardware or infrastructure, only the cable itself. This technique, which was created NPL in 2021, will mean the cable can gather continuous, real-time environmental data from the ocean floor. This will act as an early warning system for coastal communities in the event of a tsunami. If the trial is successful, the concept could be turned into a worldwide monitoring system. 

“This technology, pioneered at NPL, is the perfect example of how our science can create impact, delivering tangible benefits for society which will simultaneously improve our understanding of the world,” said Dr Peter Thompson, CEO of NPL in a press release. 

UK Science Minister Andrew Griffith echoed this sentiment, adding that “bringing the UK and New Zealand’s brightest minds together, to overhaul how we give advance warning of tsunamis, could save scores of lives. This work proves the value of breakthrough technologies like quantum, as well as the international teamwork that’s crucial to harnessing them.” 

Join us at Submarine Networks EMEA, 29-30 May in London. Get your last minute tickets now!

Also in the news:
“We’ve out innovated China”: US Commerce Secretary slams Huawei chip tech
Uzbekistan’s Perfectum partners with Nokia for 5G
Meta shares tumble after Zuckerberg reveals AI spending increase 

The One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), which is responsible for implementing Ofcom’s now heavily delayed One Touch Switch (OTS) migration system for faster consumer switching between UK broadband ISPs, has today helped to clarify the tedious subject of applicability to Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) networks.

At present most of the talk around OTS has tended to focus upon fixed line providers, which might have caused some FWA providers to assume that the new rules don’t apply to them. Ofcom has previously stated that it applies to all residential customers switching services provided at a fixed location, regardless of technology (FWA is specifically said to be in-scope).

However, wireless network technologies are quite a diverse group, particularly once you get into the awkward area of wireless broadband services that harness 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) technologies. Mobile operators already have a “Text-to-Switch” (Auto-Switch) system, but there are some products and solutions that may appear to sit in-between this and OTS, which are hard to place.

The latest TOTSCo Bulletin No.54 addresses this conflict by clarifying where the dividing lines sit for different network types.

FWA v mobile broadband

FWA is delivered to most locations using powered proprietary FWA equipment using outdoor-mounted [Customer-Premises Equipment (CPE)] devices. In some cases, mobile technology based on 3G, 4G or 5G equipment is used. In the latter cases, the CPE device might be indoor or outdoor-mounted and would have a SIM or eSIM installed. In either case, the connection would bypass any wired service to the property.

A service marketed as a “home broadband” service, typically requiring a main power supply, and intended to be used in a fixed location, would be FWA, and in scope of OTS switching. A mobile broadband device (e.g. a “MiFi” device) typically has an internal battery, is primarily intended to be used away from a fixed location, and would not be in scope.

The full document covers this and other setups in more detail, and the extra clarity it brings to the table is most welcome. But a quick look at TOTSCo’s membership list suggests that quite a few ISPs, both fixed line and wireless alike, have yet to join the scheme. If this doesn’t change soon, then the early launch could be quite rocky for any as yet unprepared providers.

In addition, while OTS only applies to residential services, the new high-level switching rules do technically mean that all switches, including business switches (particularly consumer-grade business broadband), should also be Gaining Provider Led (GPL). Ofcom’s February 2022 Statement, paragraphs 3.122 to 3.132, covers some of this and helps to show why TOTSCo may have much wider applicability than some providers realise.

News

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp is increasing spending to become a global AI leader 

This week, Meta released its Q1 earnings report, in which the company announced a heavy increase on AI spending, and confirmed its plan to turn the group into “the leading AI company in the world”. 

Revenue for the quarter totalled $36.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 27% and just above analyst expectations ($36.2 billion). Total expenses reached $22.6 billion, a 6% increase. 

“It’s been a good start to the year — both in terms of product momentum and business performance,” said CEO mark Zuckerberg in the earnings call. 

Two key factors of the report appear to have worried investors, causing shares to plunge 15% in after-hours trading. 

Firstly, a weaker-than-expected Q2 revenue. Meta’s second-quarter revenue guidance fell short of analysts’ forecasts. The company expects overall sales to be between $36.5 billion and $39 billion, with the mid-point missing the estimated $38.2 billion. This cautious outlook has raised concerns about Meta’s ability to sustain its impressive performance so far. 

Secondly, Meta have announced an increase in AI spending, including AI training and high-computing chips in its data centres. Its capital expenditures for full-year 2024 are now projected to range from $35 billion to $40 billion, up from the previous estimate of $30 billion to $37 billion. 

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this was so Meta can “continue to accelerate our infrastructure investments to support our AI roadmap”. While not providing expenditure guidance beyond this year, Zuckerberg noted that it is expected to increase as the company is set to “invest aggressively” in AI R&D to compete with rivals such as OpenAI and Microsoft. 

Last week, Meta released the latest version of Meta AI, which is powered by its latest model, Llama 3. In the earnings call, Zuckerberg confirmed that the “goal with Meta AI is to build the world’s leading AI service both in quality and usage.” The company believes that Meta AI is the most intelligent free AI assistant. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

Alternative broadband operator Trooli, which was last year acquired by Agnar UK Infrastructure (here) and had been aiming to build their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 330,000 premises across England by the end of 2023, appears to now also be harnessing Axione UK‘s once separate fibre network in Scotland.

In case anybody has forgotten, Axione UK – a subsidiary of French provider Axione – started a £300m project a few years ago to build a new open access (wholesale) and gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP) network to 4 million premises. The project has mostly focused on North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Fife in Scotland (e.g. Shotts, Ashgill, Kirkmuirhill, Law, Lesmahagow, Stonehouse, Strathaven, Cupar and St Andrews).

However, we’ve not heard a peep out of Axione UK since 2022, while Trooli hasn’t said much on their future network plans since last summer. But independent data from Thinkbroadband does reveal that Trooli had successfully expanded their full fibre broadband network to cover 334,000 premises (RFS) in England by January 2024 (here), which pleasingly exceeds their previous target.

One key point to note above is that Paris-headquartered Vauban Infrastructure Partners (VIP) technically backs both Axion and Trooli (the latter via Agnar UK Infrastructure). Suffice to say that it had long been expected that the two would consolidate their physical fibre networks into a single operation, but the exact plan for when and how this might occur has not previously been confirmed.

When two became one..

The MD of Scottish ISP Scotnet, Stuart Glendinning, recently told ISPreview that the two networks have now largely been consolidated and, as a result of that, Trooli are already promoting themselves to customers covered by Axione UK’s network in Scotland too (apparently at a price point that is causing Scotnet some concern).

Stuart Glendinning said:

“Axione’s parent company bought Trooli last year and decided to consolidate as a single provider and rebrand the Scottish network as Trooli. At that time, we were Axione’s only wholesale customer … In Scotland Axione had only managed to pass circa 17k premises with the first customers going live at the start of 2023.

Before Axione had even told us that Trooli were taking over, Trooli’s Retail dept had written to every passed premises in Scotland offering them a winter deal which was basically 900Mb/s service for £25+VAT per month, with free connection, free router and free WiFI extenders. That’s significantly below the real wholesale cost of the service.”

The consolidation similarly appears to have been reflected in a recent change of details on Companies House, which publicly lists AXIONE UK INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (13355887) as being renamed to TROOLI HOLDCO THISTLE LIMITED on 8th April 2024 (here). The address (18 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, ME19 4AE) is also identical to the one used for TROOLI LTD (04366668).

The other question mark is over what the future build plans are for the now seemingly consolidated network. So far as we can tell, Trooli still seems to be expanding their network, at least in parts of England, while the coverage page on Axione UK’s website for Scotland states (here): “Unfortunately due to changes in strategy all other deployments have been stopped.”

Meanwhile, the coverage page on Trooli’s website currently makes no mention of Scotland, although Axione UK’s partner page has started listing both Trooli and Scotnet as being ISP partners for the network. We also attempted to put one of Cupar’s (town in Scotland) postcodes – KY15 4LF – through Trooli’s website, which returned a “GREAT NEWS, WE CAN CONNECT YOU!” message. But it would be nice if Trooli didn’t require potential customers to enter their lots of personal details before showing their package options.

In terms of packages, Trooli are currently offering their top 900Mbps (300Mbps upload) tier for just £29.99 inc. VAT per month (normally £39.99), which is on a special discount with a 24-month term and free installation (Scotnet charges £49.99 per month for this). Alternatively, you can take a 150Mbps (50Mbps upload) package for £29.99 or 500Mbps (200Mbps upload) for £34.99 from Trooli – these two packages aren’t on a discount like their 900Mbps tier.

Trooli has not responded to our requests for a comment.

Alternative UK network builder and broadband ISP Grain (Grain Connect), which has been gradually deploying a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, has revealed that they’ve now passed 236,000 premises (207k Ready for Service) and confirmed they have 28,000 customers.

The details were first released by CEO Richard Cameron at this week’s Connected North event in Manchester, and Grain were kind enough to share the slides (PDF) from that speech. Richard was sharing his thoughts on sustainably transforming digital connectivity and the growth of Altnets.

Grain’s full fibre network can now be found in 58 UK locations (plus 151 new build housing developments), which includes a lot of small-to-modest sized patches of various urban areas like Leicester, Liverpool, Accrington, Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Scarborough, Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness, Hartlepool, Newport, Sunderland, Blackburn and so forth. But they were recently hit by a few job losses and a “temporary” reduction in their network expansion as part of adopting a more regional build focus (here).

The slides also highlight Grain’s low operating costs per customer, which are claimed to come in at around half the current benchmark of rival Altnets, although this is perhaps to be expected given Grain’s patchy approach to deployment. In any case, more detail is needed on the figures and methodology for this before we’d be able to correctly analyse it, and none of the rival Altnets listed are named.

Meanwhile, Thinkbroadband has informed that Grain’s latest RFS figure of 207k is much closer to their own estimate, which puts them at around 185k. TBB typically runs a bit behind live deployments due to the laborious process of tracking the latest changes, which when factored in would tend to lend some credibility to the provider’s coverage figures.

Customers of the service normally pay from just £18.99 per month for a symmetric 150Mbps package on a 24-month term, which goes up to just £25.99 for their top 900Mbps plan (take note that out-of-contract prices are £5 higher than this or more). All of these packages come with unlimited usage, free installation and a router. The ISP also has a social tariff for those on benefits.

Press Release

Nokia today announced a landmark 5G deal with Perfectum in Uzbekistan. This greenfield deal marks a significant step towards the deployment of cutting-edge 5G technology in the country, revolutionizing connectivity and paving the way for future innovation.

As sole supplier, Nokia will provide a full end-to-end 5G standalone (SA) solution to Perfectum – including radio access, transport, core networks, and applications of network automation, service orchestration, mediation and charging – and streamline the implementation process and maximize operational efficiency. The core network and applications are deployed on Red Hat OpenShift, which is integrated in the Nokia Cloud Platform.

The commercial launch of the 5G SA network is planned for Q4 2024 in Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, with step-by-step extension to all regions in Uzbekistan expected in the next 2 years. Perfectum’s subscribers will be able to experience high-speed, low latency Internet connectivity services, as well as voice services with national coverage.

The 5G rollout is a strategic investment into the future of Uzbekistan, aligning with the government’s digital transformation agenda and the increasing demand for high-speed connectivity in the region. Improved connectivity, higher capacity and data rates enabled by 5G will support several areas including remote working, telemedicine, and smart city initiatives, as well as new services and applications across industries, fostering a digital ecosystem and driving economic growth in the country.

Dmitry Shukov, CEO at Perfectum, said: “Nokia’s expertise and global reputation make them a trusted partner for the important task of starting the 5G era in Uzbekistan, and ensuring a successful deployment and long-term support for the network. This deployment is an important step to keep pace with the rapidly evolving digital landscape in the region, and to leverage the transformative potential of 5G technology for our society and economy at large.”

Dr. Rolf Werner, Head of Europe, Mobile Networks, at Nokia, said: “We are excited to work with Perfectum to bring a state-of-the-art nationwide 5G standalone network to the people of Uzbekistan. Perfectum has our full commitment for the success of this project, including continuous support, training, and collaboration to ensure they achieve their objectives of delivering a superior network experience for end users, spearheading digital transformation in the country.”

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

News

The app is currently used by over 170 million users in the US 

The US Senate has voted 79-18 to pass a landmark bill to force TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the company or face a ban in the US. The bill gives ByteDance nine months to sell its 60% stake in TikTok, or the app will be blocked for use in the US.  

President Biden has already said that he will sign the bill into law as soon as it reaches his desk. 

The bill stems from US concern that TikTok’s algorithm is powered by ByteDance, a Chinese company that could theoretically be forced to share US citizen’s data with the Chinese Communist Party.  

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has refuted these claims, telling a congressional hearing in January that he has “seen no evidence” that the Chinese government has access to that US data.  

“They have never asked us for it,” said Chew. 

In a recent congressional hearing, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) put it to Chew that “under Chinese intelligence law, all information accumulated in the People’s Republic of China are required to be shared with the Chinese intelligence services”.   

In order to comply with the new bill, ByteDance would require approval from the Chinese government to sell its stake in the firm. China has already indicated it will vehemently oppose attempts from the US to ban the app and will not agree to sell its stake.  

As a result, if President Biden does sign the bill, ByteDance is expected to take legal action, further embedding the company in a legal quagmire . 

The Trump Administration attempted to force ByteDance to divest of TikTok in 2020, though this was ultimately blocked by the courts. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m